24 FUN Elf on the Shelf Ideas

It’s that time again!! It’s time to start thinking about getting that impish little Elf fellow out and figure out what kind of mischief he is going to get into. Our Elf on the Shelf, Mac, isn’t much of a troublemaker. But he moves around every night and occasionally brings something fun (and inexpensive) for my boys.

Every December I document our Elf’s daily antics on Instagram so be sure you follow along to see what he’s up to this year. Today I’m sharing last year’s activities, but be sure to check out 2012 and 2013 activities for even more ideas.

If you think keeping up with your Elf is a pain, well, it can be, but I print out this December calendar and fill out daily activities for our Elf on the Shelf ahead of time which makes it WAY easier to keep up with. Plus he brings such joy to my boys that I can’t imagine not bringing him back out each year.

1. Mac arrived in a box under the Christmas tree postmarked from the North Pole! My boys thought he was sent directly from Santa himself. He came with a letter reminding the boys why he was here (to keep an eye out for bad behavior) and reminding them of no touching him or he could lose his magic.

2. Mac made Christmas decorations out of the boys FAVORITE toys: LEGOS!

3. Mac is hanging out in one of the Christmas stockings and has brought a new pair of Christmas socks for each boy.

4. Mac put up a fence to corral some roaming dinosaurs (my boys LOVE when Mac incorporates their toys in his antics!).

5. Oh, that silly elf! He wrote silly messages on the chalkboard wreaths on the boys’ doors. And apparently he spells his “s” backwards.

6. Our elf taped crepe paper on the boys’ bedroom doors but was considerate enough not to cover them entirely in case of middle of the night potty breaks. He’s sitting on the floor between the doors a little tangled up.

7. The boys woke up to find that Mac had brought a new game (affiliate link) to play! It even comes with a miniature of himself.

8. Looks like somebody made a snow angel out of candy cane sprinkles straight from the North Pole!

9. It’s a camp out in the Christmas tree! A simple paper tent and piece of felt for a blanket and our Elf is ready to camp in the Christmas tree.

10. Wellllll, this is embarrassing. Our elf is hanging out on a ceramic toilet (made by my great grandfather) reading a Christmas book. The boys loved this!

11. Mac is hanging out in the boys’ lunch basket because he baked little cookies for them to take to school. Too bad they don’t get to them… the note he brought warns them that they didn’t behave too well the previous day and they need to act better.

12. Our elf is roasting real marshmallows on a toothpick over a battery-operated flame while surrounded by his woodland friends.

13. After 3 years of Elf on the Shelf this was bound to happen eventually… Mac tp’d the Christmas tree! And replaced the star at the top with the toilet paper roll.

14. Mac was up late making Elf-sized biscuits for the boys to have for breakfast. These were a HUGE hit! (My husband is our resident biscuit maker and cut the biscuit dough with a shot glass to achieve the small size. Unfortunately the boys thought the Elf’s biscuits tasted better than their dad’s!)

15. We caught the Elf under the tree circling gift ideas in a toy magazine!

16. The boys found their Elf in the fridge this morning. He made AND gift wrapped their school lunch. For the record, elves like to add sprinkles to EVERYTHING (see inserted photo of sandwich). To say this day was a big hit would be an understatement.

17. Mac built himself a igloo out of giant marshmallows!

18. Mush, mush! Our elf is using an origami box as a sleigh and tied a twine strap to our stuffed animal reindeer.

19. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s SUPER Elf! Hanging out in the mantel garland with a little felt mask and cape.

23. The Lego superheroes aren’t sure what to make of our elf. He’s been trapped in Spider-Man’s web all day!

24. Mac was hanging out in the tree on his last day at our house with 2 new Christmas books for the boys and a goodbye note. He’ll hitch a ride with Santa tonight back to the North Pole.

So much fun with our Elf! We love this tradition in our house. He’s only slightly mischievous because, hey, I don’t want to clean up big messes. The biggest of these was the tp’d Christmas tree and, really, it wasn’t that bad. With proper planning you can really have a lot of fun with these little guys. Merry Christmas!

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